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I love the Gaugin-like colors of summer. A couple of weeks ago the scene was as idyllic and golden-green as I’ve ever seen it. Then the temperature climbed.

Gosh, it’s hot! It has been in the nineties for almost a week. But life goes on, and I still bicycle for transportation.

You don’t need to dress up on a bicycle: shorts and a t-shirt will do. My face is lined and craggy and no nips and tucks will happen so I do automatically put on light makeup before I go out.

And then…

Like the Wicked Witch of the West, I was melting in the heat. “I’M MELTING, MELTING.” Well, she melted in water, and I melted in makeup.

As the makeup melted, it produced a strange powdery effect. I could SMELL the powder. Ugh. I didn’t feel dehydrated, but I stopped and drank half a bottle of water.

Then I went into the store. The air conditioning felt good. But as I was handing over my credit card, sweat broke out on my hands and arms. This is the second time this has happened when I go from the outdoors into air conditioning. SO EMBARRASSING.

And what’s with that anyway? Is it a sign of dehydration? I drank a glass of water before I left home. How many glasses of water do we have to drink when it’s 92 degrees? And why does this happen when I go from the heat into air conditioning?

Well, I’m home, and no more sweating issues.

A GIVEAWAY OF THE FOLIO SOCIETY EDITION OF ANNA KARENINA.

Last year I bought a used edition of the 2012 Folio Society edition of Anna Karenina (the Maude translation). The book is very beautiful, and I love the illustrations, but it is simply too big to read lying down. I prefer a paperback!

The giveaway of this beautiful book is open to Americans or Canadians. (Alas, the postage is too high to send it farther.) Leave a comment or email me (mirabiledictu.org@gmail.com) with a sentence or two about why you want it. There is never a lot of competition here! And if you want to help with the postage, I’ll accept it, but even that is not necessary. You’re doing me a favor because this takes up the space of at least two books.

Here’s the Folio Society description:

Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude
Quarter-bound in buckram with cloth sides blocked and printed with a design by Angela Barrett
Set in Ehrhardt with Bulmer display
Frontispiece and 14 full-page colour illustrations
768 pages
Book size: 9½” × 6¼”

” And why does this happen when I go from the heat into air conditioning?”
When you are in the open air – especially on a bicycle – in a temperature of 92F your sweat will very quickly evaporate. When you go into an air-conditioned shop your body will produce sweat at the same rate for some time but it won’t evaporate anything like as quickly.
How big are your glasses of water? A little salt may help.

Well, I would not mind to take Anna Karenina off your hands (and could pay postage) … I’m curious to read the Maude version as I read the Bartlett translation last year. And I love the Barrett illustrations too. But I won something from you already, so if there’s anybody else pick them!

When I was in my late 20s and immersed in graduate school and reading for my “orals” I was reading so much 18th century descriptive poetry: it’s the first century you get these nuanced colors, poems on the changing of the seasons (Thomson) and I began to see the world through the eyes of these descriptions. I’m also 18th century enough to look out and see a landscape remembering impressionists. It makes the experience more beautiful.

We had about of 95 plus fahrenheit and high humidity for several days; now the humidity is lower and degrees around 85 or so, and then it’s going to rain for a few days. But that’s not yet super-hot: in DC we can weeks of super-hot weather, over 100 daily with high humidity. Except when it’s bitterly cold those are to me the worst days of the year, especially in August (glaring sun, hazy and so on).So I know what you mean: sometimes I have to change blouses because I’ve sweated so much. Couldn’t endure it without air-conditioning. But yesterday and today are tolerable.

The painters and poets do help us see things. I can remember struggling to see things the way poets did and didn’t quite, but it helps us. Oh, I know it gets so hot in D.C. When it gets hot enough here even a drop to 90 feels cool. 95 and above are much too hot.

I am not a fan of hot weather either, but stay hydrated and try to stay out of the heat during the middle of the day. I love Anna Karenina and Angela Barrett is a favorite illustrator. If I am the lucky person, this book would find a special place in my library.

I stumbled across this blogpost accidentally while searching for Folio Society books and can I just say that this is an amazing prize you’re offering? It really is! I’m a huge fan of Folio designs and can’t always afford the books so this giveaway is really generous! I wish I could enter, I’d love to have it in my life but sadly I’m not US/CAN based.. Good luck to everyone entering! 😀